1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for an internal combustion engine including a first fuel injection mechanism (in-cylinder injector) for injecting fuel into a cylinder and a second fuel injection mechanism (intake manifold injector) for injecting fuel into an intake manifold or intake port. In particular, the invention relates to a control apparatus for an internal combustion engine for use in the case where a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gases is rapidly warmed up.
2. Description of the Background Art
An internal combustion engine is well-known that includes an intake manifold injector for injecting fuel into an engine intake manifold and an in-cylinder injector for injecting fuel into an engine combustion chamber, for which the ratio of fuel injection between the intake manifold injector and the in-cylinder injector is determined based on an engine speed and an engine load.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 11-324765 discloses a control apparatus for a direct-injection spark-ignition internal combustion engine that activates, at an early stage after engine start, a catalyst for cleaning exhaust gases. This control apparatus for the direct-injection spark-ignition internal combustion engine includes a fuel injection valve for injecting and supplying fuel directly into a combustion chamber of the engine, fuel supply means for creating a homogeneous air-fuel mixture in the entire combustion chamber, and a spark plug for producing a spark to ignite the air-fuel mixture within the combustion chamber. The direct-injection spark-ignition internal combustion engine is controlled in such a manner that the quantity of injected fuel and the fuel injection timing of the fuel injection valve in a compression stroke as well as the ignition timing of the spark plug are controlled such that the air-fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture layer locally located around the spark plug when the mixture is ignited is stoichiometric under a predetermined engine operating condition, and accordingly stratified charge combustion is performed. The control apparatus further includes temperature-increase condition determination means for making a determination as to the condition under which an exhaust cleaning catalyst provided in an exhaust manifold of the engine should be increased in temperature as well as control means for controlling, under the condition where the exhaust cleaning catalyst should be increased in temperature, the quantity of fuel injected by the fuel supply means so as to allow the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture generated in the whole combustion chamber to be lean rather than stoichiometric and to be an air-fuel ratio at which flame can be propagated, and controlling the quantity of injected fuel and the fuel injection timing of the fuel injection valve in a compression stroke and the ignition timing of the spark plug so as to allow the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture locally located around the spark plug when the mixture is ignited to be rich rather than stoichiometric, thereby achieving a second stratified charge combustion.
Regarding this control apparatus for the direct-injection spark-ignition internal combustion engine, the air-fuel ratio of the air-fuel mixture layer around the spark plug is set to be rich rather than stoichiometric, and thus an incomplete combustion product (CO) is generated in a main combustion process (ignition by spark and subsequent combustion through flame propagation) and this CO remains in the combustion chamber after the main combustion. Further, since the air-fuel mixture generated around the rich air-fuel mixture is lean rather than stoichiometric, oxygen remains in this region after the main combustion. Flow of gases in the cylinder after the main combustion causes the remaining CO and the remaining oxygen to be mixed and re-burned, resulting in an increase in exhaust temperature. Since the incomplete combustion product (CO) is generated in the process of main combustion, the incomplete combustion product has already been in a high-temperature state when the main combustion is completed. Therefore, the CO can be burned in a relatively favorable state even under the condition where the combustion-chamber temperature is low. In other words, almost all of the generated CO can be re-burned in the combustion chamber and in the exhaust manifold upstream of the catalyst. Although an increased quantity of CO could flow to the catalyst as compared with homogeneous charge combustion which generates a smaller quantity of CO in the main combustion itself, the catalyst starts CO conversion at a temperature lower than the HC conversion starting temperature and thus exhaust emissions are influenced to a relatively small degree. Further, since the air-fuel ratio of the lean air-fuel mixture layer is set to an air-fuel ratio at which flame can be propagated, un-burned HC is not generated at the boundary between the rich air-fuel mixture layer and the lean air-fuel mixture layer. Furthermore, since the flame is propagated to every corner of the combustion chamber in a favorable state, the low-temperature region (quench area) in the combustion chamber may be a small region which is the same as the one for the homogeneous charge combustion. Moreover, since an excessive quantity of oxygen in a region where the lean air-fuel mixture is burned is left after the main combustion, the temperature of the remaining oxygen when the main combustion is completed is relatively high, so that CO is more quickly re-burned.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 11-324765 discussed above includes a fourth embodiment showing the following structure. Fuel supply means for creating a homogeneous air-fuel mixture in the entire combustion chamber is provided to generate a homogeneous air-fuel mixture that is relatively lean rather than stoichiometric in the whole combustion chamber through fuel injection by means of a fuel injection valve (fuel injection valve for intake port injection) provided in the intake manifold in an exhaust stroke or in a period from an exhaust stroke to an intake stroke. A fuel injection valve for injecting fuel into the cylinder is used to inject and supply fuel into the combustion chamber in a compression stroke and create an air-fuel mixture in a layered form that is relatively rich (high fuel concentration) rather than stoichiometric around the spark plug, and the mixture is burned. For a stratified stoichiometric charge combustion with the purpose of activating a catalyst, fuel is supplied in the following way. Specifically, of the total quantity of fuel that can be almost completely burned with a quantity of intake air per combustion cycle (weight of fuel necessary for achieving a substantially stoichiometric ratio), from approximately 50% to approximately 90% for example of the weight of fuel is injected and supplied into the intake manifold by means of the fuel injection valve for intake port injection (in an exhaust stroke or from exhaust stroke to intake stroke), thereby generating a homogeneous air-fuel mixture that is relatively lean rather than stoichiometric in the entire combustion chamber in an intake stroke. Further, from approximately 50% to approximately 10% of the remaining weight of fuel is injected and supplied into the combustion chamber by means of the fuel injection valve for injecting fuel into the cylinder in a compression stroke, and an air-fuel mixture that is relatively rich (high fuel concentration) rather than stoichiometric around the spark plug is generated in a layered form, and the mixture is burned. In other words, when the catalyst is heated, regarding the fuel injection ratio between the in-cylinder fuel injection valve and the intake manifold fuel injection valve, at least the fuel injection ratio of the intake manifold fuel injection valve is higher.
However, in order to achieve early warm-up of the exhaust catalyst, the aforementioned fuel injection ratio is not optimum for the internal combustion engine having the fuel injection valve for injecting fuel into the cylinder (in-cylinder injector) and the fuel injection valve for injecting fuel into the intake manifold (intake manifold injector). In other words, as to the ignition timing that is the most important factor for catalyst warm-up, a sufficient retard cannot be achieved at such a fuel injection ratio.